What you'll learn
Why peace failed after WWI and how the world moved towards WWII.
The peace settlement
- The Treaty of Versailles (1919): territorial losses, disarmament, reparations and the War Guilt clause — resented in Germany.
The League of Nations
- Aims and structure; some successes but key weaknesses (no army, absent powers).
- Failures over Manchuria (1931) and Abyssinia (1935).
The road to war
- Hitler's actions: rearmament, remilitarising the Rhineland, Anschluss with Austria, the Sudetenland and the Munich Agreement (1938).
- Appeasement and its debate; the Nazi–Soviet Pact; invasion of Poland (1939).
Exam tips
- Link the Treaty to later German grievances.
- Evaluate appeasement with arguments on both sides.
Common mistakes
- Treating the League as a total failure from the start.
- Confusing the events of 1938–39.